Florida, Oklahoma instruct schools to ignore Biden’s Title IX changes, pending legal challenges
The state governments in Oklahoma and Florida are telling schools not to conform to President Biden’s changes to Title IX policies. Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters announced Thursday morning that he has instructed schools within his state not to comply with the Biden administration’s changes to Title IX, which include gender identity protections. “In discussion with several other state education leaders and legal counsel, there are some serious concerns with the legality of these rule changes, especially as it relates to its redefinition of ‘sex’ to include gender identity,” Walters wrote in a letter to state superintendents. BIDEN DISMANTLES TRUMP-ERA TITLE IX RULES, SIDESTEPS ISSUE OF TRANS ATHLETES IN GIRLS’ SPORTS Walters said in his announcement that he expects legal challenges to the Title IX alterations in the coming days and urged schools to refrain from implementing changes until the matter is settled. “Please do not make any district policy changes based on the new Title IX regulations,” Walters instructed state educators. “These federal rule changes are illegal and making policy changes before the courts come to a definitive ruling on the legality of these rules could put your district out of compliance with other current and legal state and federal statute.” GOP LAWMAKERS SLAM BIDNE ADMINISTRATION’S NEW TITLE IX PROTECTIONS FOR ‘GENDER IDENTITY’ Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. announced a similar intention to fight the Title IX changes on Wednesday, calling the new guidelines absurd. “The Biden Administration maims the statute beyond recognition in an attempt to gaslight the country into believing that biological sex no longer has any meaning,” Diaz said previously. Fox News Digital reached out to the offices of Diaz and Walters but did not receive a response. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., also signaled a coming legal battle, writing on social media, “This rule is a wish list for the far left, including unlawfully expanding the scope of the rule off campus, lowering due process protections for students accused of misconduct, entrenching kangaroo courts, and delinking ‘sex discrimination’ from biological sex.” CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The Biden administration unveiled the new rules last week to address concerns expressed by LGBTQ+ groups regarding gender identity protections. New regulations included expanding the definition of sex discrimination to include both sexual orientation and gender identity, which the president’s administration touts as protection for LGBT students. “No one should face bullying or discrimination just because of who they are, who they love,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said. “Sadly, this happens all too often.” The unveiled rule changes also rolled back regulations put in place by former Trump Education Secretary Betsy DeVos that ensured due process for the accused. Fox News’ Julia Johnson and Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.
Ilhan Omar, daughter appear at Columbia University encampment amid nationwide anti-Israel protests
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and her daughter, Isra Hirsi, appeared Thursday at an anti-Israel encampment that was set up on Columbia University’s campus in New York City. Photos from the duo’s appearance on Columbia’s campus showed a smiling Omar standing alongside her daughter as they interacted with other people who were participating in the demonstration’s efforts on campus. Omar’s arrival on the school’s campus comes as several colleges and universities around the United States brace for what is yet to come as more and more anti-Israel protests sweep the nation. Hirsi announced last week in a post on social media that she had been suspended from Barnard College for her involvement in anti-Israel demonstrations on Columbia University’s campus. Law enforcement sources later confirmed to Fox News that Hirsi had been arrested and issued a summons for trespassing. ILHAN OMAR EXCUSES COLUMBIA ANTI-ISRAEL UNREST BUT BRANDED JAN 6 PROTESTERS ‘VIOLENT MOB’ Omar praised her daughter following the suspension, saying she was “enormously proud” of Hirsi for standing “against genocide.” “She has always led with courage and compassion, from organizing a statewide school walk out on the 20th anniversary of Columbine at the age of 15, to leading the biggest youth climate rally at our nation’s Capitol at 16, and now pushing her school to stand against genocide,” Omar wrote in a post to X. “Stepping up to change what you can’t tolerate is why we as a country have the right to speech, assembly, and petition enshrined in our constitution.” Dozens of anti-Israel activists began demonstrating at Columbia University last week, creating a group of encampments on the main lawn in protest of Israel’s war against Hamas. Fiery protests have continued with calls for an intifada and the death of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Omar, whose views on Israel have been repeatedly criticized by her Republican colleagues in Congress, suggested Wednesday that the Gaza cease-fire encampments at Columbia University are being “co-opted and made to look bad” by public officials and members of the media. ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS AT COLUMBIA ISSUE DEFIANT ULTIMATUM, END ‘NEGOTIATIONS’ WITH SCHOOL “Throughout history, protests were co-opted and made to look bad so police and public leaders would shut them down. That’s what we are seeing now at Columbia University,” Omar wrote on X. “The Columbia protesters have made clear their demands and want their school not to be complacent in the ongoing Genocide in Gaza. Public officials and media making this about anything else are inflaming the situation and need to bring calmness and sanity back.” Social media videos from the anti-Israel demonstration that’s been staged for days on Columbia’s campus show activists cheering on the deaths of Israeli soldiers and showing support for Hamas. Jewish students have reported feeling unsafe on campus and shared stories of being verbally and physically assaulted. CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “They were pushing and shoving me… They threw rocks at my face. At that moment, my life was totally threatened. And there was no safety authority on campus,” one student told NY1 over the weekend. Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
Gaetz urges House investigative hearing on ‘failed foreign policy’ that ‘endangered’ US troops
FIRST ON FOX: Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., is urging the House Armed Services Committee to summon Secretary of State Antony Blinken for congressional testimony to assess how the State Department’s “failed foreign policy decisions” have “endangered” U.S. forces in Africa. “The intended purpose of this investigative hearing is to ensure the Global Fragility Strategy (GFS) isn’t negatively impacted by DoS’ recent failures in Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso that have led to a loss of security access for U.S. forces,” Gaetz wrote to Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., on Thursday. Gaetz said the hearing is “in the interest of my constituents,” as U.S. troops were notified over the weekend they would be removed from Niger, just a day after Gaetz published a report on what he called the State and Defense Departments’ “coverup of security concerns and mistreatment of service members.“ US RENEWS EFFORT TO RETAIN FOOTHOLD IN NIGER AS JUNTA LOOKS TO PUSH TROOPS OUT The Florida Republican is also requesting testimony from Assistant Secretary of State Molly Phee, assistant to the US-AID administrator for conflict prevention and stabilization Robert Jenkins, and Defense’s director of counternarcotics and stabilization policy Joseph McMenamin, regarding policies and strategies that Gaetz believes compromised the safety of U.S. service members in Africa. Gaetz’s report, which included interviews with U.S. service members, claimed the Biden administration is “actively suppressing intelligence reports” about U.S. military relations in Niger, and that troops are being “held hostage” without access to mail, medical supplies, equipment and other materials. “With a military junta in charge – who detests our presence and considers us unserious and predatory – the situation seems to be setting the groundwork for catastrophic diplomatic collapse like we saw during the 2012 Benghazi attack,” the report said. “Additionally, these troops are already running short on necessary, life-saving supplies, such as blood and medications.” Though Gaetz claimed victory amid the administration’s announcement last weekend that they plan to pull troops from the African nation, a Biden administration official told Fox News Digital the “decision did not have any sort of connection to Representative Gaetz.” US MILITARY BEGINS PROCESS TO REMOVE TROOPS FROM TROUBLED AFRICAN NATION A State Department spokesperson also said they “categorically reject” the assertion “that U.S. forces deployed to Niger are being ‘held hostage.’” “We maintain a professional relationship with the Nigerien military, and prudent force protection measures continue unabated,” a spokesperson told Fox News Digital this week. “Senior leaders at the Department of State, the Department of Defense, and the U.S. Embassy in Niamey continue to work together closely to ensure U.S. forces deployed to Niger have the support and services they need.” Gaetz fired back at the department’s response, arguing “the State Department also said Niger was a ‘model of resilience, democracy, and cooperation,’ so maybe, just maybe, they don’t have a full grasp on what is going on in Niger.” Relations have frayed between Niger and Western countries since mutinous soldiers ousted the country’s democratically elected president in July. Niger’s junta has since told French forces to leave and turned instead to Russia for security. Earlier this month, Russian military trainers arrived to reinforce the country’s air defenses and with Russian equipment to train Nigerians to use. PENTAGON LOOKS TO KEEP TROOPS IN NIGER AS JUNTA ORDERS DEPARTURE The planned departure, which some experts view as a blow to Washington and its allies in the region in terms of staging security operations in the Sahel, comes as U.S. officials said they were trying to find a new military agreement. Niger plays a central role in the U.S. military’s operations in Africa’s Sahel region, an area on the edge of the Sahara Desert. Washington is concerned about the spread of jihadi violence, as local groups have pledged allegiance to al Qaeda and Islamic State groups. Niger is home to a major U.S. air base in the city of Agadez, about 550 miles from the country’s capital of Niamey. The air base has been used for manned and unmanned surveillance flights and other operations. The U.S. has also invested hundreds of millions of dollars in training Niger’s military since it began operations there in 2013. A U.S. defense official confirmed the beginning stages of the removal process in a statement to Fox News Digital on Saturday, saying discussions between the U.S. and Niger for the “orderly removal” of troops had started. “We can confirm the beginning of discussions between the U.S. and Niger for the orderly withdrawal of U.S. forces from the country,” the official said. The Associated Press and Fox News’ Kyle Morris contributed to this report.
Meet our new Rio Grande Valley reporter, East Texas reporter and audience producer
Berenice Garcia in McAllen, Jess Huff in Lufkin and Laura Duclos in Houston are our newsroom’s latest hires.
SCOTUS sees ‘dangerous precedent’ in Trump immunity case if presidents can prosecute rivals: experts
After a marathon debate over whether former President Trump should be granted presidential immunity for crimes alleged by Special Counsel Jack Smith, legal experts tell Fox News Digital that most of the Supreme Court justices appear concerned with how the ruling will impact the future functioning of the executive branch. In nearly three hours of debate on Thursday, the high court wrestled with this question: “Whether and if so to what extent does a former president enjoy presidential immunity from criminal prosecution for conduct alleged to involve official acts during his tenure in office?” Legal experts told Fox News Digital that while it appeared the majority wasn’t sold on the idea of absolute immunity, they could determine that Trump, and any future former presidents, should be granted a qualified version of it. “I think the court recognizes that it would be a dangerous precedent if future presidents can prosecute their political rivals,” Mark Brnovich, former attorney general of Arizona, told Fox News Digital. TRUMP ATTORNEY, SUPREME COURT JUSTICE CLASH ON WHETHER A PRESIDENT WHO ‘ORDERED’ A ‘COUP’ COULD BE PROSECUTED “They will set a limiting principle because, under the prosecutor’s theory, future prosecutors would have a lot of power to persecute their political rivals,” Brnovich said. Over the course of questioning, the justices seemed generally split along ideological lines. “If the potential for criminal liability is taken off the table, wouldn’t there be a significant risk that future presidents would be emboldened to commit crimes with abandon while they’re in office?” Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson asked in an exchange with Trump’s lawyer, John Sauer. “Once we say, ‘No criminal liability, Mr. President, you can do whatever you want,’ I’m worried that we would have a worse problem than the problem of the president feeling constrained to follow the law while he’s in office,” Jackson said. LIVE UPDATES: TRUMP NY TRIAL TESTIMONY RESUMES AS SUPREME COURT HEARS IMMUNITY ARGUMENTS Conversely, Justice Samuel Alito questioned whether limiting immunity for a former president would send the country into a destabilizing cycle. “If an incumbent who loses a very close, hotly contested election knows that a real possible after leaving office is not that the president is going to be able to go off into a peaceful retirement, but that the president may be criminally prosecuted by a bitter political opponent, will that not lead us into a cycle that destabilizes the functioning of our country as a democracy? And we can look around the world and find countries where we have seen this process, where the loser gets thrown in jail,” Alito remarked. “We’re writing a rule for the ages,” Justice Neil Gorsuch later stated. TRUMP SAYS NY JUDGE MERCHAN ‘THINKS HE IS ABOVE THE SUPREME COURT’ AFTER BARRING HIM FROM IMMUNITY ARGUMENTS John Shu, a constitutional scholar and former official in both Bush administrations, told Fox News Digital that the justices indicated “they believe this case isn’t really about Trump per se. It’s about the Office of the President, what future presidents can do, and whether they’ll be prosecuted for their choices.” “It’s a very important issue and the Biden administration set a very bad precedent to go after not only a former president, but one who also is challenging Biden’s re-election,” he said. “What the Biden administration has done here gives the terrible appearance of vindictiveness, and on an international or foreign policy level, it makes us look like just another banana republic that we generally criticize for prosecuting or trying to jail their political opponents,” he stated. Shu added that “many of the justices perhaps find what Trump did after the 2020 election distasteful.” “But they also seem uncomfortable with either granting blanket immunity on the one hand, or no immunity at all on the other. As often happens, the middle ground is where the discussions will be,” he said. John Yoo, a law professor at University of California at Berkeley, said Trump’s argument “had much more success than many court watchers expected.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “Only the three liberal justices seemed to reject the idea of immunity outright. The six conservative justices recognized the need to prevent future presidents from criminalizing policy and constitutional differences with their predecessors,” Yoo said. He added that a possible outcome could be that the justices punt the question back to the lower courts and ask them to first determine whether Trump’s actions amounted to “official” or “private” acts, before they decide whether immunity might extend to official acts. A decision in the case is expected early this summer. The special counsel’s office declined to comment when reached by Fox News Digital. Fox News’ Bill Mears and Shannon Bream contributed to this report.
Top adviser to left-wing California DA charged with nearly a dozen felonies
California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Wednesday he has filed charges against one of LA County District Attorney George Gascón’s top officials, and her attorney dismissed the accusations as a “non-starter.” Bonta, a Democrat appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2021, announced 11 charges against Diana Teran, an assistant district attorney. Bonta’s office alleges she accessed police officer files in 2018 when she worked for the LA County Sheriff’s Department and later improperly used that data at the DA’s office, which she joined in 2021. “No one is above the law,” Bonta said in a statement. “Public officials are called to serve the people and the State of California with integrity and honesty. At the California Department of Justice, we will continue to fight for the people of California and hold those who break the law accountable.” LA MAYOR BREAK-IN SUSPECT WAS ‘TARGETING’ BASS, GASCON SAYS James Spertus, Teran’s attorney, said the AG had been secretive about the case, and he believed it is a “non-starter.” “The case is just not prosecutable,” he said. “I think it’s going to be very embarrassing for the AG’s office. They should have discussed issues more carefully with people with knowledge.” He said he believes the charges are based on duties Teran had within the scope of her employment that involved the “Brady List,” a public database of information about police misconduct allegations. He said there are no possible charges that can be based on that conduct, and he was surprised by the announcement. “I want the world to know that the AG’s office will face a very quick and expeditious loss on this sort of thoughtless legal theory that an official can be prosecuted for doing an official act. It’s just really something that you wouldn’t expect in law enforcement today,” Spertus said. A BATTLE OVER 100 WORDS: JUDGE TENTATIVELY SIDING WITH CALIFORNIA AG OVER STUDENTS’ GENDER IDENTIFICATION Gascón’s office issued a statement that did not address the charges directly but said it would comply with an investigation and defended its handling of records. “When I took office, we developed a protocol that ensured we complied with our constitutional obligations under Brady, which requires us to turn over potentially exculpatory evidence to the defense, a category that includes law enforcement’s prior misconduct, while simultaneously complying with state and federal law around privacy. I stand by that protocol,” Gascón said. “While we cannot comment on specific personnel matters, we will comply with any investigation from the attorney general’s office. I remain committed to upholding transparency and ensuring police accountability within Los Angeles County. These principles are paramount to the integrity of our work and the trust of the community we serve,” he said. “We will address this matter with the utmost seriousness and diligence to uphold the values of justice and fairness.” Spertus predicted a “race” to get the case dismissed. “The case is a non-starter,” he said. “I think it’s going to be a race for us to get to a court, so we can get a ruling that this case must be dismissed and the AG dragging their feet and trying to delay that doomsday event.”
DOJ will not turn over Biden’s recorded interview with Special Counsel Hur to Congress
The Justice Department said Thursday it will not produce subpoenaed audio recordings of former Special Counsel Robert Hur’s interview with President Biden to House Republicans, maintaining that its “cooperation” with the congressional investigation has been “extraordinary.” House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., and House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, had threatened to hold Garland in contempt of Congress over the Justice Department’s failure to produce the audio recordings. HUR TESTIFIES BIDEN ‘WILLFULLY RETAINED CLASSIFIED MATERIALS,’ BUT PROSECUTORS ‘HAD TO CONSIDER’ MENTAL STATE But the Justice Department on Thursday reminded that it has produced a transcript of Biden’s interview with the special counsel. “If the Committees’ goal is to receive information from the Department in furtherance of your investigations, that goal has been more than met,” Assistant Attorney General Carlos Uriarte wrote. “Our cooperation has been extraordinary.” “The Committees have not responded in kind,” he continued. “It seems that the more information you receive, the less satisfied you are, and the less justification you have for contempt, the more you rush towards it.” Uriarte added: “Lacking a justification for complaint—never mind contempt—in the actual record, the Committees’ threats deepen our concern that you are seeking to create a false narrative of obstruction that weakens, rather than strengthens, the American people’s confidence in our government and the rule of law.” “The Department will not shirk from our duty to protect the public’s interest in the integrity of law enforcement work. We hope you find this information helpful. Please do not hesitate to contact this office if we may provide additional assistance regarding this or any other matter,” he wrote. Hur, who released his report to the public in February after months of investigation, did not recommend criminal charges against Biden for mishandling and retaining classified documents — and stated that he would not bring charges against Biden even if he were not in the Oval Office. Those records included classified documents about military and foreign policy in Afghanistan and other countries, among other records related to national security and foreign policy, which Hur said implicated “sensitive intelligence sources and methods.” Hur, in his report, described Biden as a “sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory” — a description that has raised significant concerns for Biden’s 2024 re-election campaign.
911 call transcript details Democratic Minnesota state senator’s alleged burglary at stepmother’s home
When the stepmother of Democratic Minnesota state Sen. Nicole Mitchell reported a home break-in around 4:45 a.m. Monday, she said she was armed with “a little steak knife” after finding an intruder next to her bed, according to a 911 call transcript obtained by Fox News Digital Thursday. Mitchell’s stepmother told a dispatcher the intruder ran downstairs to the basement of her home in the 700 block of Granger Road in Detroit Lakes, and she didn’t know if the person was “breaking out the back window.” Mitchell was found and arrested at the home after police arrived and allegedly found her wearing all black with a flashlight covered with a black sock nearby. She was charged with first-degree burglary. When the dispatcher asked if the caller got a good look at the intruder, she responded: “No, it was completely dark. I tripped over ’em. Ah, he was on the floor next to my bed. He ran downstairs into my basement.” DEMOCRATIC MINNESOTA STATE SENATOR CLAIMS SHE WAS CHECKING IN ON ILL LOVED ONE DURING ALLEGED BURGLARY The caller also told the dispatcher she had grabbed “a little steak knife.” Throughout the call, she only referred to the intruder as “he” and never suggested she knew who had entered her home. Mitchell denied the burglary allegation in a Facebook post Tuesday, claiming she went to check on “a loved one” with Alzheimer’s after learning of medical information which caused her “grave concern.” According to the 911 call transcript, the dispatcher asked the caller if she could hear anyone breaking out the window in the basement. “I’m not hearing anything right now,” she responded. “Maybe the window is already open down there. There’s a basement — a drop window that can crank open. I don’t know.” According to a criminal complaint, responding officers found that a black backpack belonging to Mitchell was propping open a basement window. Inside the backpack, officers found a laptop belonging to the stepmother, who told officers that she never gave it to Mitchell. Mitchell acknowledged she entered through a window and told investigators she was trying to get her late father’s ashes, photos, a flannel shirt and other items of sentimental value, the criminal complaint said. Mitchell claimed her stepmother had stopped speaking to her after her father’s death and refused to give her the items. DEMOCRATIC MINNESOTA STATE SENATOR CHARGED WITH FIRST-DEGREE BURGLARY AFTER BREAKING INTO STEPMOTHER’S HOUSE “I know I did something bad,” Mitchell is quoted as saying in the complaint. In Mitchell’s Facebook post, the state senator said she entered the home but did not explain why she apparently entered through a window in the dark early morning hours. “Unfortunately, I startled this close relative, exacerbating paranoia, and I was accused of stealing, which I absolutely deny,” Mitchell wrote. Mitchell, of Woodbury, has represented District 47 since she was elected to the state Senate in 2022. She was previously a meteorologist for KSTP-TV and Minnesota Public Radio and serves as a lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard.
New reporting requirements for life-saving abortions worry some doctors
The proposed guidance from the Texas Medical Board would require doctors to document whether there was time to transfer a patient “by any means available” to avoid performing an abortion.
Most cases against UT-Austin protesters dropped
The Travis County attorney dropped 46 charges after 57 people were arrested at a pro-Palestinian demonstration.